NEW DELHI: India and Russia took forward a project to jointly manufacture military choppers under the 'Make in India' initiative even as other plans, including one to construct frigates, took a backseat during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow.

Among the 16 agreements inked during the visit, the only one on defence cooperation - a significant facet of the bilateral relation - referred to plans to manufacture 200 of the KA 226 light choppers for the Indian armed forces. State owned HAL is believed to have pipped a proposal by the Anil Ambani owned Reliance Defence as the main partner for the contract that is expected to cost over $ 1 billion.